Letter: Cures for crime: a return to family values, creative play, moral lessons, caring at home

Sir: In 1956 I lost sight of my elder son, then aged six, in a shoe shop in London's Oxford Street, in circumstances similar to Patricia Finney (18 February). As she did, I ran up and down in frantic distress, then I saw him. He was on an island in the middle of the road - where better to be spotted by a searching parent? A large bobby held him by the hand and was bending down to his level to comfort and reassure him.

Alas, a Panda car can do nothing to protect children or help distraught parents. Outnumbered police can only react to consequences they can no longer watchfully prevent.

Yours faithfully,

PENELOPE BIGGS

Oxford

19 February